Vercel CLI Management

Master Vercel CLI for deployments, environment variable management, log viewing, and cron job configuration.

Quick Reference

Deployment

# Deploy current directory (preview)
vercel

# Deploy to production
vercel deploy --prod
# or
vercel --prod

# Force redeploy (even if unchanged)
vercel deploy --force

# Deploy with inline env vars
vercel deploy --env NODE_ENV=production -e API_KEY=secret

# Build locally first, then deploy
vercel build
vercel deploy --prebuilt

# Rebuild + redeploy previous deployment
vercel redeploy <deployment-url-or-id>

# Promote preview deployment to production
vercel promote <deployment-url-or-id>

# Rollback to previous deployment
vercel rollback <deployment-url-or-id>

# List all deployments
vercel list

# Get deployment info
vercel inspect <deployment-url-or-id>

# Delete deployment(s)
vercel remove <deployment-id>

Environment Variables

List

# List all env vars (development by default)
vercel env list

# List for specific environment
vercel env list production
vercel env list preview
vercel env list development

# List for specific git branch
vercel env list production main

Add

# Add to all environments (interactive)
vercel env add MY_VAR
# Enter value when prompted

# Add to specific environment
vercel env add API_TOKEN production

# Add sensitive variable (masked in dashboard)
vercel env add SECRET_KEY --sensitive

# Override existing
vercel env add MY_VAR --force

# Add for specific git branch
vercel env add DB_URL production main

Update

# Update in all environments (interactive)
vercel env update MY_VAR

# Update specific environment
vercel env update API_TOKEN production

# Update from stdin
cat ~/.npmrc | vercel env update NPM_RC production
vercel env update CONFIG production < config.json

# Mark as sensitive
vercel env update SECRET_KEY --sensitive

Remove

# Remove from all environments
vercel env remove API_TOKEN

# Remove from specific environment
vercel env remove SECRET_KEY production

# Skip confirmation
vercel env remove API_TOKEN -y

# Remove for specific branch
vercel env remove DB_URL production main

Pull to Local

# Pull development vars to .env.local
vercel env pull

# Pull to custom file
vercel env pull .env.development.local

# Pull specific environment
vercel env pull .env.production --environment production

Logs

Runtime Logs (live application logs)

# Stream runtime logs for 5 minutes
vercel logs <deployment-url-or-id>

# Example with Jupiter deployment
vercel logs jupiter-qhb0ke91n-captaincrouton89s-projects.vercel.app

# Output as JSON (for piping to jq)
vercel logs <deployment-url-or-id> --json

# Filter with jq
vercel logs <deployment-url-or-id> --json | jq 'select(.level == "error")'

Build Logs (compilation + deployment)

# Show build logs for a deployment
vercel inspect <deployment-url-or-id> --logs

# Wait for build to complete and show logs
vercel inspect <deployment-url-or-id> --logs --wait

# Timeout after X seconds
vercel inspect <deployment-url-or-id> --logs --timeout 90s

Cron Jobs

Cron jobs are configured in vercel.json only—there are no CLI commands for management.

Configuration (vercel.json)

{
  "crons": [
    {
      "path": "/api/cron/email-sync",
      "schedule": "*/5 * * * *"
    },
    {
      "path": "/api/cron/weekly-digest",
      "schedule": "0 0 * * 1"
    },
    {
      "path": "/api/cron/cleanup",
      "schedule": "0 2 * * *"
    }
  ]
}

Cron Expression Format (standard cron syntax, UTC timezone)

minute (0-59) hour (0-23) day-of-month (1-31) month (1-12) day-of-week (0-6)

Examples

*/5 * * * *      Every 5 minutes
0 */4 * * *      Every 4 hours
0 0 * * *        Daily at midnight UTC
0 9 * * 1        Every Monday at 9 AM UTC
0 0 1 * *        First day of month
0 0 * * 0        Every Sunday

Important Constraints

• Cannot use both day-of-month AND day-of-week; one must be *
• No text alternatives (MON, SUN, JAN, DEC not supported)
• All times in UTC
• Cron jobs make GET requests to your deployment with vercel-cron/1.0 user agent

Verify Crons

• Modify vercel.json and redeploy: vercel deploy --prod
• View status in dashboard: Project → Settings → Cron Jobs
• Monitor logs: vercel logs <deployment-url>

Common Workflows

Deploy with Environment Variables

Interactive

# Deploy and set vars interactively
vercel env add NODE_ENV
vercel env add LOG_LEVEL
vercel deploy --prod

Command Line

# Single deploy with env vars
vercel deploy --prod -e NODE_ENV=production -e LOG_LEVEL=debug

Fix Failed Deployment

# Check what went wrong
vercel inspect <deployment-id> --logs

# Fix code or config, then redeploy
# Option 1: Build and deploy changed code
vercel deploy --prod

# Option 2: Rebuild previous deployment with fixes
vercel redeploy <deployment-id> --target production

# Option 3: Rollback to last known good
vercel rollback <deployment-id>

Monitor Live Application

# View recent runtime logs (5-minute window, live stream)
vercel logs my-app-xyz.vercel.app

# Filter for errors only
vercel logs my-app-xyz.vercel.app --json | jq 'select(.level == "error")'

# Follow specific cron job execution
vercel logs my-app-xyz.vercel.app --json | jq 'select(.path == "/api/cron/email-sync")'

Environment Variable Workflow

# Add secrets for production
vercel env add DATABASE_URL production
vercel env add API_KEY production --sensitive

# Pull development vars locally
vercel env pull .env.local

# Update after rotation
vercel env update API_KEY production

# Remove deprecated vars
vercel env remove OLD_TOKEN -y

Debug Cron Jobs

# 1. Verify config in vercel.json
cat vercel.json

# 2. Deploy with changes
vercel deploy --prod

# 3. Monitor execution in logs
vercel logs <deployment-url> --json | jq 'select(.path == "/api/cron/your-route")'

# 4. Check cron logs in dashboard
# Project → Settings → Cron Jobs → View Logs button

Important Notes

Deployment Targets

• Production: Assigned to project domains, no live preview
• Preview: Auto-generated URL, live preview before promoting
• Development: Local testing with vercel dev

Environment Scopes

• production - Production environment
• preview - Preview/staging deployments
• development - Local .env.local file
• Git branches - Specific branch overrides

API Rate Limits

• Check dashboard for per-team limits
• Redeploys and promotions may have separate limits

User Agent Detection for Crons

• Vercel cron requests include: User-Agent: vercel-cron/1.0
• Use for authentication: if (req.headers['user-agent'] === 'vercel-cron/1.0')

Examples from Real Projects

Jupiter Mail Project

{
  "crons": [
    {
      "path": "/api/cron/email-sync",
      "schedule": "*/5 * * * *"
    },
    {
      "path": "/api/cron/weekly-digest",
      "schedule": "0 0 * * 1"
    },
    {
      "path": "/api/cron/delete-old-emails",
      "schedule": "0 0 * * *"
    }
  ]
}

Deploy with: vercel deploy --prod